But there's a potential problem in the person of Neil Drysdale, the Hall of Fame trainer of Fusaichi Pegasus, who's doing things differently.

Rather than lodge Fusaichi Pegasus in the stakes barn with all the other Preakness horses in close proximity to the track, Drysdale has put him far away in Barn 7 in the remote backstretch, making him less accessible.

All of the other trainers stayed for lengthy interviews following Wednesday night's selection of post positions but Drysdale hurried out after reluctantly answering a few brief questions. He turned down a request for a short interview by a Baltimore TV station and left immediately thereafter.

"No one informed me they were going to do it this way," said Drysdale. "I can't stay. I've made other plans."

Lucky 6: Captain Steve's No. 6 post position has been the most successful since 1909 when post positions made their first appearance in the Preakness record book. Last year Charismatic was the 14th horse to use the No. 6 stall as the launching pad for a trip to the winner's circle. There is a three-way tie for second with 11 winners coming out of posts No. 2, 3 and 4. Nine winners have emerged from post 7, which will be Fusaichi Pegasus' point of departure.

Elite eight: The eight-horse field is the smallest for the Preakness since 1991, when Hansel routed seven rivals.

"There are a lot of nice horses in this race," said Captain Steve's trainer, Bob Baffert. "No lackeys. The only one missing is Bobby Frankel's horse (Kentucky Derby runner-up Aptitude). He's a good horse. Frankel should have brought him here. But, with no more million dollar bonus (for the horse with the best record in the Triple Crown races), there isn't the incentive we had in the '90s."

History lesson: Recent history doesn't bode well for Red Bullet, Snuck In and Hugh Hefner, the three Preakness entrants who didn't run in the Kentucky Derby.

In the last 28 years there have been only three Preakness winners who were absent from the Derby--Bee Bee Bee in 1972, Aloma's Ruler in 1982 and Deputed Testamony in 1983.

All three were Maryland-based horses. This year there are no Maryland-based horses in the race. . . . The last three Kentucky Derby winners--Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998 and Charismatic in 1999--went on to win the Preakness. But none of the three was the post-time favorite in the Preakness.